Patriots emerge as small Super Bowl favorites; Pennsylvania won’t have online betting for SB

The New England Patriots are listed as small favorites to win the Super Bowl.

Heading into Monday, the Patriots were consensus 1.5-point favorites over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3 in Atlanta.

For about 10 minutes late Sunday night, though, the Patriots were Super Bowl underdogs. That changed quickly.

Some sportsbooks opened the Rams as small favorites, and other bookmakers made the Super Bowl opening line pick ’em.

The early action overwhelmingly was on the Patriots, and the odds quickly moved in New England’s favor. By late Monday morning, some books had pushed the point spread to as high as Patriots -2.5.


Online sports betting won’t be available in Pennsylvania in time for the Super Bowl.

While Pennsylvania’s gaming update allows casinos to take sports wagers online, no one has gotten the OK from state regulators to do so, said Doug Harbach, a Gaming Control Board spokesman.

“There will not be online sports wagering options available by the Super Bowl,” he said.

There are only three areas of the state – Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Harrisburg – where legal bets will be accepted by the time of the Feb. 3 clash between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots.


Minnesota‘s lawmakers are discussing legalizing sports betting.

State Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes, is pushing ahead and expects to introduce a bill soon.

“Right now it’s been underground and there are people doing it already,” Chamberlain said, referring to sports betting.

He compared betting to the stock market. “It’s perfectly safe. It’s not like drinking booze or smoking marijuana. It’s like investing. They have opinions, and they want to invest based on those opinions,” Chamberlain said.

Through a spokeswoman, Walz said he’s open to it, but only if advocates craft a deal with the state’s Indian tribes, which are a key Walz constituency.

Sports betting bills have also appeared in Arizona and Hawaii.

The first Arizona sports betting bill appeared on Wednesday.

S 1158 would allow the state’s gaming tribes to offer land-based sports betting within their casinos — and elsewhere. Arizona currently has 16 federally recognized tribes which operate a total of 24 gambling facilities across the state.

Regulated Arizona sports betting would not be limited to tribal lands, though.

The bill would allow the installation of kiosks or similar devices inside of bars and other liquor-serving establishments. Definitions tied to state code are broad, encompassing things like airport lounges and social/fraternal clubs. Theoretically, the Sky Club at Sky Harbor could offer sports betting.

 

Filed on Wednesday and pending introduction, H 1107 would create the Hawaii Sports Wagering Corporation. The bill charges the new agency with regulating and operating the Hawaii sports betting industry from top to bottom.

Although Hawaii doesn’t have a lottery, the framework would be similar to that in Rhode Islandand Delaware.


ESPN.com published an article about WWE betting.

“Everyone always asks me, ‘How can you put up odds on something that’s predetermined?” said Adam Burns, sportsbook manager for BetOnline.ag. “And it comes down to this: There’s not huge limits. You can’t bet $10,000 on who’s gonna win it, but you can bet a couple hundred bucks, have some fun with it. It’s more for us to get people engaged.”

Offshore books like BetOnline and Bovada are leading the way in terms of betting options for the 2019 Royal Rumble. Those with interest can bet on more than 50 different men to win the men’s Royal Rumble match and more than 45 different women to win the women’s Royal Rumble match — but it goes deeper. Just as Super Bowl props have continued to expand over the years as they’ve garnered more attention, this year’s offerings from those two sites and a variety of others include odds on longest time spent in the Royal Rumble, most eliminations and odds of making the final 4, among other wagers.

 

* * *

Each Friday, we’ll comb through as many articles, tweets and podcasts as we can find related to the world of sports betting and daily fantasy sports, and publish the good stuff here. 

Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email info@bettingtalk.com.